


On the care and feeding of Steve Rogers (circa 1935)

by maharetr



Series: Imagine Bucky - maharetr post [13]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Chronic Illness, Comfort, Cooking, Everybody Lives, Ficlet, Food, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-Slash, Protective Bucky Barnes, References to Illness, Short, cosy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:08:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23734366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maharetr/pseuds/maharetr
Summary: His ma fed him up good on potatoes. If he can’t stomach the thought of food, peeled mashed potatoes, a little salt, a little butter and milk if you’ve got it – you can keep him going a long time on that.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Imagine Bucky - maharetr post [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/255532
Comments: 7
Kudos: 46





	On the care and feeding of Steve Rogers (circa 1935)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Imagine Bucky tumblr](imaginebucky.tumblr.com), based on the anon prompt: "Imagine Bucky giving Natasha and Sam a crash course in The Care And Feeding Of Steve Rogers (circa 1935)." Originally posted [here](https://imaginebucky.tumblr.com/post/134524040082/imagine-bucky-giving-natasha-and-sam-a-crash) on 4 December 2015.
> 
> I can't tell if this is the worst or best time to post this, honestly, but I stumbled back over it recently and found it soothing. Love to everyone.

There are … flavors, to his ‘I’m fine’s. Pair up voice strength and body language, add in a dash of eye contact, and you’ll have a hint of how he’s actually doing.

Averted gaze, hunched shoulders, and a shrug are not good signs. Blocked nose and sneezing are early warnings - sneak in and change his sheets, so when he falls asleep on your shoulder in the afternoon, all you need to do is carry him to bed.

It’s the deep, rattling cough that makes him intolerably crabby - he knows as well as you that that’s a bed-sentence.

Bring him a deck of cards, books and newspapers, pencils and any paper you can find; he gets bored fast. Bring him things to sketch: feathers, candy wrappers, stories. Jokes are great, but not if they make him laugh too deep.

His ma fed him up good on potatoes. If he can’t stomach the thought of food, peeled mashed potatoes, a little salt, a little butter and milk if you’ve got it – you can keep him going a long time on that.

You know he’s real sick if he’s not whining about how bored he is.

He will grump at your ‘fussing’, right up until that first moment you touch him with the cool damp cloth, and then he’ll hush.

If cooling him down doesn’t help his temperature, you’re in for a long night. He’ll get loud again, with the fever-dreams. Getting into bed with him is the easiest way to see things through to dawn. He’ll quiet for you, even if he thinks you’re both vacationing on the moon. If he doesn’t hush, if he doesn’t know you, call for the doctor immediately. Thank God every single time he calms at the sound of your voice.

He’s sharp-eyed after he’s slept off the fever, and he will glare right through your own ‘I’m fine’. Accidentally falling asleep on him is the best way to get him to stay in bed all day, it turns out. Still, don’t let him out of bed for another day or two.

He’s a particular flavor of belligerent after he’s bounced back from being sick. Keep a supply of iodine, bandages, and Band-Aids on hand. Keep an eye on the time. He’ll be the first to admit he dawdles and gets distracted on the way home from class, but if he’s more than half an hour late, go looking. Take the asthma cigarettes, and his inhaler. Leave the first aid till you’re both home safe.

Tune out his outraged ranting, apply the iodine, hide your relief when he’s okay enough to glare at you and swear at the sting. Make him mashed potatoes.


End file.
